National Register of Historic Places Received JUL 2 5 Isee Inventory
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NPS Form 10-900 OMB No. 1024-0018 (3-82) Exp. 10-31-84 United States Department of the Interior National Park Service For NPS use omy National Register of Historic Places received JUL 2 5 isee Inventory Nomination Form date entered See instructions in How to Complete National Register Forms Type all entries complete applicable sections____________________________________ 1. Name___________________________ historic________N/A____*____________________________________________________ Connecticut State Park and Forest Depression-Era Federal Work Relief and or common Programs Structures Thematic Resource_______________________ 2. Location____________________________ street & number See inventory Forms___________________________-M/Anot for publication city, town______See Inventory Forms _ vicinity of__________________________ state_______Connecticut code 09_____county See Inventory Forms___code " 3. Classification Category Ownership Status Present Use district _ X_ public _ X- occupied agriculture museum _ X- building(s) private unoccupied commercial _ X-park structure both work in progress educational private residence site Public Acquisition Accessible entertainment religious object in process _ X- Ves: restricted government scientific X thematic being considered - yes: unrestricted industrial transportation group IN/A no military other: 4. Owner of Property Commissionier Stanley Pac name Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection street & number 165 Capitol Avenue city, town___Hartford______________ vicinity of___________state Connecticut 06106 5. Location of Legal Description_____________ Multiple courthouse, registry of deeds, etc. See Continuation Sheet________________________________ street & number________________"__________________________________________ ti city, town_____________________________________________state_______________ 6. Representation in Existing Surveys tit>e State Register of Historic. Places has this property been determmeo eligible? __yes _&no date 1986 ______________ _________________—— federal x state county local depository for survey records Connect1cut Historical Commission 59 S. Prospect Street city,town Hartford state Connecticut 7. Description Condition Check one Check one X excellent deteriorated X_ unaltered X original site X good ruins x altered moved date . ........... unexposed Describe the present and original (if known) physical appearance OVERVIEW The thematic group is composed of 14 structures and one complex of 7 buildings built between 1933 and 1942 by Depression-era federal work relief programs in Connecticut's state parks and forests. Although one of the structures (Tunxis Forest Ski Cabin built in 1937) is less than 50 years old, it was the product of programs that were initiated in 1933. Located in 14 different towns throughout the state, the well-preserved structures represent a variety of building types associated with the use and administration of the facilities as well as the work relief camps themselves. Four structures and the complex are administrative in use and include one lumber shed (Natchaug Forest Lumber Shed), two stone structures built as Civilian Conservation Corps camp headquarters (Paugnut Forest Administration Building, Tunxis Forest Headquarters House), a complex of seven frame buildings for use as a maintenance yard (State Park Supply Yard) , and an existing ca. 1790 central-chimney Colonial-style house rehabilitated for a camp headquarters (Avery House). The recreational structures include three multi-purpose assembly buildings (Rocky Neck Pavilion, Peoples Forest Museum, Oak Lodge), two open shelters (Massacoe Forest Pavilion, Shade Swamp Shelter), one observation tower (Sleeping Giant Tower), one log cabin (Tunxis Forest Ski Cabin), and three log Adirondack shelters (Cream Hill Shelter, Red Mountain Shelter, American Legion Shelter) . As varied as the uses is the scale of the structures, which ranges from the small gazebo-like shelter at Shade Swamp to the monumental 356 f -long three-story pavilion at Rocky Neck State Park. With the exception of the Natchaug Forest Lumber Shed and and the State Park Supply Yard, which are modest frame vernacular structures, the buildings were executed in the rustic Adirondack style and emphasize the use of indigenous materials, often in their natural form. With the exception of the Rocky Neck Pavilion, dramatically sited on a rocky outcrop overlooking Long Island Sound, all the structures enjoy a wooded setting in large parks or forests of at least 150 acres. None are located in major metropolitan areas. While the work of the Depression-era work relief programs was broader in scope than erecting buildings in state parks and forests, the focus of the nomination is limited to structures built throughout Connecticut on state-owned property under the management of the Park and Forest Commission, the state agency responsible for the historic development of the state park and forest system. The structures built by the Civilian conservation Corps (CCC), the Federal Emergency Relief Administration (FERA), and the Civilian Works Administration (CWA) and its administrative successor, the Works Progress Administration (WPA), have a common historical association with the federal work relief programs and the development of the public-sector program of recreation and forest land development in the state. Although 12 of the 15 individual components of the nomination were built by the CCC, the works of the other programs are included because of the administrative similarities and social/humanitarian objectives shared (continued) NPS Form 10-900-a OMB No. 1024-0018 (3-82) Expires 10-31-87 United States Department of the Interior National Park Service National Register of Historic Places Inventory Nomination Form CT State Park & Forest Depression-Era Federal Work Relief Continuation sheet Programs Structures Thematic Ifajjflfljfifoe, 5 Page 1 LOCATION OF LEGAL DESCRIPTION Barkhamsted Town Clerk Hamden Town Hall Town Hall 2372 Whitney Ave. Route 318 Hamden, CT Pleasant Valley, CT Sharon Town Hall Hartland Town Clerk's Office Main Street Route 179 South Road Sharon, CT East Hartland, CT Town Clerk's Office Eastford Town Clerk Town Office Building Eastford Town Office Building 760 Hopneadow Street Westford Road Simsbury, CT Eastford, CT Cornwall Town Clerk Griswold Town Clerk Pine Street 50 School Street Cornwall. CT Jewett City, CT Killingworth. Town Clerk's Office Town Office Building 323 Route 81 Killingworth, CT , Torrington Land Records Municipal Building 140 Main Street Torrington, CT Town of East Lyme 108 Pennsylvania Ave. East Lyme, CT 06357 Farmington Land Records Town Hall 1 Montheith Drive Farmington, CT Madison Town Clerk Meetinghouse Lane Madison, CT NPS Form 10-900-a OMB Wo. 1024-0018 (3-82) Expires 10-31-87 United States Department of the Interior National Park Service National Register of Historic Places Inventory—Nomination Form CT State Park & Forest Depression-Era Federal Work Continuation sheet Re11ef Work Programs Strucutre^lj^^c Resource Page DEP Cultural Resource Survey No 1985 State Connecticut Historical Commission 59 S. Propsect Street Hartford, Connecticut 06106 NFS Form 10-900-a 0MB Wo. 1024-0018 (3-82) Expires 10-31-87 United States Department of the Interior National Park Service National Register of Historic Places Inventory—Nomination Form ^ .. .. GT Park & Forest Thematic , , Continuation sheet_____________________Item number 7____________Page 1_____ by those programs and the CCC as well as the types of facilities they constructed on state-owned park and forest lands administered by the Park and Forest Commission. All the projects selected were administered by Park and Forest Commission personnel as part of the federal/state cooperative effort that characterized the programs. While the Civilian Conservation Corps was limited by Congress to "works of a public nature in connection with the forestation of lands belonging to the United States or the several states," the other programs were not so restricted and executed a variety of projects on the local, state, and federal levels. Regardless of use or program responsible for construction, most of the buildings erected by federal work relief labor are characterized by high standards of styling, detailing, and craftsmanship for their genre. Most of the structures exhibit one or more of the three types of construction in which the work relief programs excelled: masonry, wrought-iron, and woodworking. The buildings represent the highest standards of workmanship and design of the day. Even the vernacular, utilitarian structures are well-proportioned and well-constructed, demonstrating the skill and attention brought to the most modest project. The larger buildings are distinguished by a quality of design and detailing that is unmatched in other recreational structures in the state system. Of particular merit is the masonry work, which is distinguishable not only by the quality and variety of the coursing and joint styles but also by the handsome and often unusual styling of the particular feature, whether it be a chimney or a load-bearing wall. METHODOLOGY The 15 nominated sites were identified during the 1985 statewide survey of the above-ground resources in state parks, forests, hatcheries, and wildlife management areas owned by the Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection, the administrative successor of the Park and Forest Commission since 1971. Thirty-six structures in sixteen different parks and forests were identified as having been built